by Pepper Pace
“Robin?” Jason was leaning forward and Robin dragged her eyes to his green ones. “Did you hear what the doctor said? They are benign, not malignant. They are just going to remove them.” Robin blinked.
Dr. Sarma was suddenly shining a light into her eyes. “Robin?”
She nodded her head quickly. “I’m okay.”
“Robin.” He said slowly. “I’m going to write you an anti-anxiety medicine. I think that will help you, okay?”
Jason suddenly pulled Robin into his arms and hugged her. “I was scared.” He said into her neck. “I was so scared, Robin.”
“I know. It’s okay.” Betty just stroked her daughter’s hair as she watched them. He cared for her daughter, that was plain to see. He did really care.
Dr. Sarma was typing into a computer. “Robin the abnormal cells are not malignant today.” He then turned to her solemnly. “But it could develop into that. You have inflammatory bowel disease, that’s pretty obvious. Do you know what Crohns disease is?”
Robin shook her head very quickly, fear like little pinpricks moved along her nerve endings.
“Well, we believe it’s an auto-immune disorder. That means that your own immune system attacks your intestines; hence your irritable bowel.” He explained that Crohns disease is the thickening of the intestines which causes severe pain and can be the cause of her ulcers and obviously the irritable bowel. Because of the nature of the disease, it could also lead to cancerous cell growth.
“What concerns me is that you described your pain level from a threshold of one to ten at just a five, maybe six. People with Crohns generally will describe it at ten or above.”
Robin looked at her mother quickly. “Mom, remember that time we went to-”
“Yes! That Chinese restaurant and you got sick!”
Robin turned back to the doctor. “About a year ago, my mom and I went to a restaurant and I got suddenly sick while I was still in the middle of my meal.” Though she didn’t admit it to her mother, it felt as if she was trying to digest broken glass. Each time she went to the restroom, even just to pee, the pain was excruciating. “I made it home but I literally had to stay in bed for the rest of the day.” She had literally forced herself to go to work the next day, but had been in so much pain that she’d had to limp around partially stooped over. “I didn’t feel myself for about a week.”
“Is that the first time you had ever experienced pain like that?” Dr. Sarma asked while taking notes.
“Well…once before.” After her father died. She had attributed it to grief. “But not that bad and it went away after a few hours.”
“It could very well be Crohn’s.”
“How do you get rid of it?” Jason interjected. The doctor met his eyes.
“You don’t. There is no cure for Crohn’s. If Robin has it, then she is in remission. Remission can last for years, or for just a very short period of time.”
“She’ll be alright, won’t she?” Betty asked.
“Yes. But we need to do another endoscopy to remove the bad cells and complete some tests to try to determine if we are on the right track.”
The Doctor gave her a prescription for valium and instructed her on what to do should the intestinal pain return. Betty Mathena sniffed and stared at the ceiling. Thank you god, she prayed. I will do better. I swear to you that I will do better.
They had gone through an emotional rollercoaster and were quiet as they left the hospital that evening. Betty was holding her daughter’s hand as they walked leisurely. She turned to Robin as they stepped off the elevators to the garage.
“I think I will go visit your Daddy’s grave today.”
That surprised Robin. She never wanted to think about Daddy’s dying. In the past when Robin tried to call her to see if she was okay, on the anniversary of his death, Mama would just brush her off. She had explained in sharp words that all she wanted to do was get past this day with her sanity intact and Robin had understood that perfectly. On this day, they didn’t talk about Daddy.
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No.” Betty smiled softly. “I want to do it alone.”
Robin hugged her mother quickly. “Thanks for being here Mama.” She whispered. Betty pulled back and stroked Robin’s short hair.
“This hairstyle really suits you.” She watched her lovingly and then looked at Jason.
“Jason, I’ll see you Sunday then.”
Jason’s brow smoothed and he took a deep breath. “Yes, ma’ame. I’ll see you Sunday.”
“Robin and I usually got out to lunch after church. But if it’s okay with you two, I’d like to make us dinner. How does meatloaf and sautéed cabbage sound?”
Momma hadn’t cooked a Sunday dinner in ages. She looked at Jason. “My mother makes the best sautéed cabbage in the world.”
“I never had sautéed cabbage.” He said. “Sounds good. Dinner would be great Mrs. Mathena.” Betty could see that his muscles weren’t moving so badly now. She decided that she would pull up some information on Cerebral Palsy on the computer when she returned home.
Once they were loaded up in her car Jason turned to her. “Do you want to go visit your father’s grave, Robin?”
She nodded silently too afraid to talk because then she might start crying. He took her hand.
“It’s okay if you want to cry. You have every right, you’ve been so strong today.” She gave him a brave smile.
“I think I’m okay.”
Robin drove to Spring Grove Cemetery. It was big, hard to navigate through, but she had the route embedded in her memories even though she had only come here twice before. She wondered if she would see her Mom there, but didn’t. Jason stayed in the car while she made her way to Daddy’s grave stone.
She sat down. “Hi Daddy. I know I don’t have to come here to talk to you, but I couldn’t seem to do this anywhere else but here. I’m sorry that I haven’t been talking to you as much.” And then Robin explained about all of the things that had been happening to her. She talked about Miss Lucille and about actually being in college—if only to help someone else out. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, Daddy. Maybe I can do it. I mean, I know I can do it, but maybe I WANT to do it now.” She talked about Jason and about how strong he was and how much she cared for him. And then she talked about her and Mama’s vacation. “At first, I wasn’t looking forward to it. But now…I just want some time with just us, time to make things right again.”
When Robin finally stopped talking over half an hour had passed. She turned back to her car where she had left Jason and saw that her mother’s car had pulled up right behind hers and Mama was sitting there silently, giving her an opportunity to speak to her father privately. She stood up quickly.
“Why didn’t you come up?” She asked.
Her mother smiled. “I didn’t need to.” She waved and drove away.
Robin climbed into the car. “Jason, I’m so sorry. I had no idea that I’d be that long.” He just smiled at her. His muscles were lucid his smile straight; and killer, as always.
“You had a seizure?” She asked.
“Yeah, I was strapped in. I’m okay.”
She reached over and kissed him, holding him there against her for a moment. “Thank you for suggesting that. I really needed it.”
“I know.”
They had dinner at Johnny Rockets, sitting and talking long after their meal was finished. Jason’s hand finally moved along her knuckles and he met her eyes silently. Robin’s body shivered. They paid their check and went back to the apartment. Robin wanted a shower, she felt icky from the day’s events. She heard the shower curtain open and turned to see Jason standing there nude, braces on his knees.
“Jason! You’re not supposed to be standing…”
He reached for her hand which she took, and then he stepped into the shower very carefully. “I want to take a shower with you.” Robin wiped the streaming water from her eyes as he positioned himself against the wall.
“I
want to wash you.” He took the wash cloth from her hands and quickly lathered soap onto it. She moved forward and closed her eyes as he began to gently wash her neck, her arms, and then her torso. He had her turn and he washed her back and then she felt the wash cloth between her thighs as he gently washed her there. She felt soft kisses on her back and her heart began to beat rapidly.
Jason’s soapy fingers slipped past the wash cloth and he gently stroked her pussy. Robin shuddered and placed her hand on the wall to keep herself from falling. She grabbed the soap and created a lather in her hands and then she reached behind her, locating Jason’s very hard cock.
She washed him, her hands searching out his tight stomach, feeling the muscles there tremble at her touch and hearing his sharp gulp of air as the pleasure in him mounted. Robin turned and placed one leg onto the tub’s edge and then she pressed her body against his, her hands moving easily up his chest, their mouths finding each other. His hands pulled her bodily against him where he leaned against the wall. Jason’s hand clutched her full ass and he rolled his hips against her wet pelvis, his cock between them, rubbing into her belly.
She wanted to reach between them and push his cock into her, even though he wasn’t wearing a condom. But there was a part of her that didn’t care, the part of her that was focusing on the way her soapy hands felt as they quickly stroked his hard shaft, and the part of her that heard his moans and felt the way his fingers dug into the flesh of her ass. That part of her cared for nothing other than the feel of his cock slamming and stretching her muscles.
But one thought kept her from doing this. And that was; they had the rest of their lives together. So instead, she slipped down onto her knees and she sucked the head of his cock into her mouth, pulling him sensually further and further down her throat.
Jason planted his hands on the wall and braced himself the best he could. His body was a jumble of nerve endings that were going haywire. He moaned and cried out as Robin’s mouth lathed him. She was doing it like she’d never done it before; with an urgent need and wild abandon. Her mouth worked his cock, opening to accept as much of him as she could. He was in the back of her throat and then she was releasing him, lapping at his cock and then swallowing him down again.
Jason was going into sensory overload; the feel of the shower spray striking his body, the sensation of the droplets streaming down his sensitized skin, the erotic treatment of Robin’s mouth and hands as they cupped and stroked his balls.
He had great control of his orgasm, even if he had little control of muscle function. He thought that he could hold this until he made her cum, but a loud guttural, primal yell came from his mouth and he came very hard and very fast.
Robin milked his cock catching every creamy spurt of him into her mouth. He watched this with an almost fanatical intrigue. He knew that if he thought of these seconds sometime in the future he would just instantly ejaculate! The image of her was just as erotic as the sensations.
His knees gave out, as he knew they would but it didn’t matter because Robin was there on the floor of the tub with him, her body curled like a kitten against his as the cooling water spray saturated them. It didn’t matter; neither felt the urge to move.
After they left the tub and got dried off, the urgent need for sex waned…though it didn’t quite disappear. Robin slipped on panties and a t-shirt and Jason just put on boxers. She helped him use the toilet and then rubbed his legs down with oil. He surprised her by rubbing her body down with oil and of course that led to the end of their night filled with loud cries of passion, neighbors looking at each other in awe at the antics of their strange neighbor and his sexy caregiver, and then a deep, anxiety-free sleep.
***
Friday was so much better than Thursday morning. She didn’t have cancer! Yay! Her Mama was seeming to accept her boyfriend! YIPPEE! She was going to her first costume party where her boyfriend who was to be the star of the night! DOUBLE YIPPE...but still no period. Of course it was Halloween and the day of the party and therefore it would make its appearance at the most inopportune time. That was just destiny, Robin figured as she and Jason got ready for their day.
Because of the party the five friends met in the cafeteria for lunch in order to confirm that everything was set for tonight. Belinda appeared at lunch. Peter’s little ‘friend’ from the other day, had not made a reappearance. Belinda’s lunch was a chef salad which seemed to include everything from eggs to every kind of meat and every kind of cheese possible. She shared it with Robin when she commented on how big it was.
“So we’re all going to need to meet at the hall. They want us set up by seven.” Peter informed them that the equipment was already there and set up. The three of them had worked on it until late in the night. They talked about how good the hall looked; very festive Halloween. Belinda and Peter were even talking good naturedly, even if Belinda managed to stay slightly aloof. Robin didn’t think that their time together last night had led to a rekindling of their relationship, but it had somehow repaired some of the damage.
At rehab, Raymond had a list of the physical therapy that the specialist had sent and instead of time in a Jacuzzi, he spent time having his muscles painfully stretched.
“Fuck!” He screamed when he got a charly horse in his calf. Raymond worked it out quickly and then continued to stretch his tightened muscles and ligaments.
When that was finally over they dashed home. Jason was fidgeting as Robin put on his makeup. He asked if they could have a quickie, and she told him absolutely not! And risk ruining the makeup? But she then ended up giving him a handjob anyways. He quieted after that and when he was all dressed Robin couldn’t stop from laughing. He looked so much like the Mad Hatter from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland that Robin couldn’t imagine him not winning the costume contest.
She went on to get dressed while Jason wrote a list of things that he would need his mother to pick up for him Saturday. Robin stopped midway in her makeup to help him with the note. His chicken scratch writing was almost impossible to read, but he assured her that his mother could understand it.
Beneath the list she wrote: toilet paper-sorry Mrs. Hamilton, I will leave you ten dollars to pay for it.
Jason took the list from her and scowled at her written words. He continued to write. Later she saw the list hanging on the refrigerator and it read: Robin’s IBS went amuck and she used toilet paper, big deal!!! Get razors. Cheerios. Lactaid milk-for Robin’s bad stomach.
Robin sighed and she picked up the list and jotted on it. Thank you.
“Robin Robin Robin.” He chanted like a petulant kid. “Let’s go, it’s aready six.”
“You wanted the handjob.” She called back. “So stop rushing me!” She was putting the finishing touches on the wild blue eye shadow. She decided to forego the white face—she didn’t want to look as if she was in an old time minstrel show.
She stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror. Nice. Maybe not exactly like Tim Burton’s vision for the Queen of Hearts because she was a bit more hipper and more curvier, and definitely sexier. Still she was Robin, Queen of Hearts. She picked up her staff and walked into the living room. Jason laughed and clapped and then he got his cell phone and took a ton of pictures while she posed. Then she took pictures of him with both his and her phone.
As they headed out the door Jason gripped her hand.
“Robin?”
“Yes?”
“Did you get your period?”
She shook her head but quickly added; “I’m sure I’ll get it sometime today. It was just a stressful week. Sometimes things like that work havoc on a woman’s system.”
He nodded but she saw that he had a worried look on his face.